Monthly Archives: April 2014

Dog aggression is something that we literally deal with on a daily basis at our facility in Northern Virginia. If you go to our YouTube channel, you can see countless dog aggression before and after videos.

Just like with our blog on people aggression, we do not base your dog’s severity based off of the number of incidents, but we based it off of the severity of the incidents.

If your dog has been in “a lot of dog fights” or “attacked a lot of other dogs” (as we hear on a daily basis), we always ask about the SEVERITY. Severity of the “attack” is all that really matters, in our opinion.

If your dog has been in “a lot of fights” or “attacked a lot of dogs,” I would ask:-Did at least two of the dogs have to go to the vet due to damage?
-Did the vet bills of 1 or more dogs total over $1000.00 in damage done by your dog?

If your answer is “no” to both, I would generally say that you do not have a “dog aggressive” dog. Your dog may be a dick, but I wouldn’t say that he or she is necessarily aggressive. What people do not realize is that is VERY easy for your dog to do damage (punctures) to another person or a dog; therefore, if they are “getting into fights,” but they are NOT doing damage, this is generally by the CHOICE of your dog. They could have easily done damage if that was their intention. So, your dog is showing great restraint and bite inhibition.

Also, it may not necessarily have been YOUR dog’s fault. Maybe another dog challenged him, postured up on him (etc) and you just didn’t notice this, and your dog reacted.

So, I would say that your dog is generally safe with other dogs, he just may not get a long with all dogs he meets. Here’s a big secret that many people do not realize, “YOUR DOG MAY NOT LOVE OR GET ALONG WITH EVERY DOG THEY MEET!”

Let me say that again, “Your dog will probably not like every dog it meets.” Shocking, right? Why is that true? You socialized them a lot when they were young, you do on-going socialization with them, etc. Let me put it to you differently, were you raised well, did you have a lot of friends growing up aka were you well socialized growing up? If you answered, “Yes,” then should it be safe to assume that YOU like every single person you meet? Ah hah! There you have it! It’s really that simple.

So, to get back to the main point, your dog’s dog aggression. From a training perspective, if your dog has not: 1) put two dogs in the vet or 2) given vet bills over $1000.00, we would say that your dog is definitely workable and can be taught to be better behaved and proper interaction.

If your dog HAS met two of these standards, I would generally say that your dog would not be safe around other dogs, regardless of training. We can still give you CONTROL over your dog with other dogs in their presence. Meaning, we can generally take your highly reactive dog who is going out of his way to attack another, and give you a dog that will stay in a heel, sit, down, place (etc) while another dog walks by without reacting. With that said, I still wouldn’t ever TRUST them with another dog, you just have control over them with other dogs around.

So, this is a good measuring tool to see if your dog’s dog aggression is fixable or just manageable. I would also strong encourage reading my blog, “Dog Aggressive Dog Training.”

As the highest rated dog trainers in Northern Virginia, we deal with a wide variety of people and dogs on a daily basis. We are known for our high-level of obedience training; however, one common issue we also deal with is aggression in dogs (towards people and other dogs).

When dealing with aggression, the owners are almost always in a frenzy, stressed, and find themselves and their dogs hiding away from people and society. One thing that we commonly hear in aggression cases (mainly with people) is, “There was no warning sign, he just jumped up and bit the guy.”

What they are saying is, “There were a lot of warning signs, but none “I” noticed.” Once we really start breaking down the incident (how, what, where), then we can generally easily formulate a “why.”

Say for instance, a scenario that we may hear is, “I had a friend come over, out of nowhere, he jumped up and bit him.”

*Note, I say “him” because my experience shows me that generally dog bites tend to happen more on men than women*

I almost never find a dog bite to be “that” cut and dry. All dogs have what we refer to as a “bite threshold;” meaning, under what circumstances does it take for me to react with a bite. If you think about it, many people have this same “fight or argue threshold.” You do, I do, and every one of your friends and family have this. Think about this for a minute to help you better understand what I mean.

Do you have a friend who gets upset far quicker than you? Do you have a friend or family member that the smallest thing can set them off and they are ready to fight or punch someone? Do you have a friend or family member who can take A LOT of abuse (physical or mental) and they still keep their composure and remain calm?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, you now see that EVERYONE has a different amount of “pressure” before they react in a certain situation, some it takes very little and some it takes an enormous amount. Also, you see that people react DIFFERENTLY once this threshold is met. Welcome to your “threshold.”

Now that you understand the point I am trying to make (if you did not initially), dogs have this same threshold for reacting and HOW they react, just like with people.

So, you see the chart I illustrated below? This is to give you an example of how a dog doesn’t normally “just bite” someone. Generally, when we actually break down the event, the dog’s background or temperament, and the sequence of events that led up the bite, we can see what actually occurred.

Again, to jump back to the initial call or email that, “I had a friend come over, out of nowhere, he jumped up a bit my friend.”

After discussing their dog with them, we are able to see what “actually happened.” So, here is an example conversation below:

“Well, Rex can sometimes be shy/sketchy around new people. He also has growled at us on rare occasion if we push him off the couch or try to take his ball. He has also growled at the vet when they clip his toenails or mess with his paws. However, Rex has never bit anyone! I cannot believe he would do this!”

Then, I begin to break down the series of events that took place which led up to the friend being bit.

“Rex was laying on the couch, had his ball between his paws, and was just laying their playing with this ball and Mark (stranger) walked in, sat down on couch beside of Rex, and started petting him. Then, he went to move Rex’s paw so he could throw the ball for him and that’s when Rex just bit him out of nowhere.”

Do you all see what just happened? It was a bunch of minor events that normally gets a reaction out of Rex; however, all of these events came together in one scenario in order to create “the perfect storm.”

He didn’t like when the stranger came in (gave him anxiety), then he sat down next to him on the couch (which owner acknowledged he can be territorial), then he moved his feet WHILE Rex had a ball (again, both things the owner knew Rex doesn’t like).

Again, this is a very generic scenario; however, this is generally what dog bites break down to. For the severity of the reaction and the bite, I would recommend reading my blog on “How Fixable Is Your Dog’s People Aggression?”

So, it is YOUR responsibility as a responsible pet owner to find out what (if any) your dogs triggers are, get them addressed, and ensure that they never come together to create “the perfect storm.”

At our Northern Virginia dog behavior training facility, we deal with dogs who are aggressive towards people on a regular basis.

One thing that everyone asks is, “Can you fix my people aggressive dog?” That’s a very tricky question to answer until we really start working with your dog.

First, you must understand WHY your dog has aggression towards people: abused at a young age, lack of socialization at a young age, or bad breeding (genetic predisposition)?

I would say about 90% of the cases is lack of proper socialization at a young age; unfortunately, this is sad because this is the EASIEST and most preventable thing to do with your dog (that is 100% free and cost-free). We will discuss proper socialization and desensitizing your dog to “trigger points” in a different blog.

We (as in Off Leash K9 Training) do have a classification system that tells us the likelihood of being able to completely fix (or address) your dog’s people’s aggression.

We base this system NOT on the number of incidents your dog has had, but the “severity” of the incidents. This is the grading scale assuming that your dog has no medical issue.

Level 1 Aggression:
-Growls and barks at people, but has never actually put teeth on a person.

Level 2 Aggression:
-Growls, barks (not necessary), and has put teeth on someone but has never actually punctured a person’s skin

Level 3 Aggression:
-Growls, barks (not necessary), and has left 1-3 shallow puncture marks on someone. *Shallow punctures meaning not deeper than half the length of the dog’s K9 teeth*

Level 4 Aggression:
-Growls, barks (not necessary) and has left 1-4 deep puncture wounds in a single bite. *Deep punctures meaning deeper than half the length of the dog’s K9 teeth*

Dealing with Level 1 and 2 Aggression: This is the easiest type of aggression. At our K9 Training facility in Northern Virginia, we work with this on a daily basis. We are almost always able to completely fix this, give your dog amazing obedience, higher confidence, and stop their reactivity to people. What this tells us is that your dog may be reactive towards people; he/she has learned GREAT bite inhibition (which we will talk about in another blog).

Dealing with Level 3 Aggression: This is still very workable from a training and “fixability” perspective. We have a lot of steps that we will go over with you in order to get this issue fixed and bring the level down until it’s a level zero. This means that your dog has SOME bite inhibition.

Dealing with Level 4 Aggression: This is where it starts to get a little tricky. This is where we will ask about the specific situation and story behind the bites. Generally, with a level 4 aggression biter, it is workable with the family and people living with the dog (assuming the dog did this with someone in the family). Generally, would not recommend this dog interacting with anyone outside of the people working directly with the dog on a daily basis. This is a dog who has A LITTLE bite inhibition.

Dealing with Level 5 Aggression: Okay, at this point, you have a dog that we would classify as a dangerous dog. Your dog has NO bite inhibition whatsoever, and we would say that they are not be trusted around people.

Dealing with Level 6 Aggression: Your dog is a VERY dangerous dog and training would not help whatsoever. Your dog could never be trusted around anyone and would recommend this dog being put down for public safety.

So, if you have a dog in the level 1-3 zone, this is definitely workable, trainable, and more than likely completely fixable.

We would say that level 4 can generally be managed and controlled and a good possibility of fixing this behavior.

If you have a level 5 biter, we would never trust this dog around people; however, we can give you control over the dog. Depending on your specific situations with a level 5, depends on what course of action should be taken with this dog.

If you have a level 6 biter, training would not even be a viable option for your situation.

Hopefully this blog on dealing with your people aggressive dog will help you in having realistic expectations from training. Also, it will help you realize exactly how severe your issue really is from a professional training standpoint.

If you are at a level 1, 2, 3, or 4, I would HIGHLY recommend getting training as soon as possible, as it is very possible (with time) for your dog to move up the aggression scale.

Below are some of the puppy training tips we give at our facility in Northern Virginia on a daily basis.

We were just nominated “Best Dog Trainer” and “Best Puppy Trainer” by Northern Virginia Magazine for 2014.

General Dog Training Tips

1. Pick Wisely When Selecting Your Future Pup

Whether selecting your prospective pup from an expert breeder or from a family reproducing a litter for the first time, the criteria are the same. Search for puppies raised inside with a lot of human socialization and particularly around individuals who have had experience in puppies’ training.

2. Problems in the Future Result from Early Problems that Were Not Corrected

Barking, digging, and running away are all common issues of pre-adult pups which have been assigned to a life of restriction and being left attended in the yard (boredom). Housetrain your pooch, give him a job to do, and afterward you may leave him to run freely inside. Remember, a bored dog is a destructive dog.

4. The Clock to Train Your Puppy Starts from Day 1

When your puppy returns, the clock is running. Inside only three months, your puppy will need to meet six urgent developmental due dates. On the off chance that your puppy neglects to meet any of these due dates, he is unrealistic to attain his true ability. As far as your canine’s conduct and disposition, you will most likely be playing get up to speed for whatever remains of your pooch’s life. Most critical of all, you basically can’t stand to disregard the socialization and bite inhibition, both of these are vital for having a well-rounded dog.

Pooch Training Development Tips

There are six vital developmental due dates that you need to remember

1. Your Doggy Education (before seeking)

When you search for your ideal puppy, you have to comprehend what kind of canine you are actually searching for, where to get it, and when to get it. You can read about this in my blog, “Picking the Perfect Dog.”

2. Assessing Puppy’s Progress (before choice)

When you select your puppy (normally at eight weeks of age), you have to know how to select a great breeder and how to select a great puppy from that breeder. Particularly, you have to know how to evaluate your puppy’s behavior properly. By eight weeks of age, your puppy should be used to being inside the home (of the breeder), exposed to different types of commotions; your puppy should have been handled by a wide variety of people: particularly men, kids, women, different races, and strangers; your puppy’s housetraining and ought to be underway; and your puppy ought to as of recently have a simple understanding of basic conduct and manners.

3. Errorless Housetraining (before homecoming)

You have to guarantee that an errorless housetraining and chewtoy-preparing system is initiated the very first day your puppy gets back to your home. This is so critical throughout the first few weeks, when puppies naturally take in great or negative behavior patterns that set the point of reference for weeks, months, and off and on again years to come. You can read our blog on “House Breaking”

4. Socialization with People (by 12 weeks of age)

The Critical Period of Socialization finishes by three months of age! This is the pivotal developmental stage throughout which puppies figure out how to acknowledge and interact with different dogs and individuals. As a dependable guideline, your puppy needs to have met at any rate a hundred distinctive individuals before he is 16 weeks old. Your goal should be to get your pup to encounter as many different races, sizes, and ages of people as possible.

5. Bite Inhibition (by 18 weeks of age)

Bite restraint is the absolute most paramount lesson a pooch must take in. Grown-up puppies have teeth and jaws that can damage. All creatures must figure out how to restrain utilization of their weapons against their own particular kind, however pups must figure out how to be delicate with all creatures, particularly individuals. Household canines must figure out how to restrain their gnawing to all creatures, particularly to different pooches and individuals. The limited time window for creating a “delicate mouth” starts when they are born (playing with other litter mates) and it continues through about 9-months old.

6. Avoiding Adolescent Problems (by five months)

To guarantee that your balanced and decently educated puppy remains a courteous, overall well-mannered, and friendly pooch all around adulthood, your canine needs to meet new individuals and new puppies all the time. As such, your pooch needs to be taken to new places and continuously meeting new dogs and people. Your puppy may be taken for rides in the auto and to visit companions’ houses as routinely as you like.

In the event that you recently have a puppy and feel that you are behind, don’t lay down and surrender. You must recognize this and know that you are well behind and that your puppy’s socialization and training are presently a critical hurdle you must begin to jump. Promptly try your hardest to get up to speed. Call our dog training facility in Northern Virginia for help.

You can see over 550+ before/after videos of dogs we have trained, many of which are pups that are 5-months old. Do not let young age be an excuse for your pup’s horrible behavior and/or manners.

We have the highest rated board and train program for your dog in Northern Virginia. In fact, Northern Virginia Magazine named us “Best Dog Trainers of 2014, 2015, and 2016!

We have people come from all throughout the US for our board and training program! As you will see, our client list includes: Actor Ryan Reynolds, John Cena, WWE Star Daniel Bryan, NBA Star John Wall, UFC World Champion Jon “Bones” Jones, MLB Star Pitcher Max Scherzer, National’s Pitcher Gio Gonzalez, Nationals star Jayson Werth, UFC’s Rashad Evans, Model Marissa Fraering, Actress Carolyn Stotesberry, World Champion Boxer Roy Jones Jr, UFC Announcer Bruce Buffer, film star Ron Jeremy, 3x UFC Champion Rich “Ace” Franklin, WWF World Champion Iron Sheik, Kane Hodder (“Jason” from the Friday the 13th movies), the staff from the hit show “Operation Repo,” and Elliot’s dog from Elliot in the Morning on DC 101! You can see them and many more on the testimonials page of our website.

While your dog is in our 2-week board and train program, we spend over 50+ hours of “actual” training time working with your dog! As you can see on our YouTube channel, we have over 600+ before/after videos of board and trains alone (1600+ videos total).

While your dog is training with us, they are worked countless hours with dogs, noises, people, objects, and vehicles. You can see all of these various distractions implemented in our board and train videos.

While here, your dog will be near flawless in the following 8 commands:
Come
Sit
Down
Heeling (on and off leash)
Place
Off
Out
Extended Down

In addition to these things, we also can address all common and most specific behavior issues, as well; jumping, excessive barking, counter-surfing, mouthing, door manners, etc.

While your pup is going through our training program, we send you daily update videos so you can actually see your dog’s daily progress in our training program!

When you pick your dog up from our training facility, we do a 3-hour turnover with you! The dog already has the commands mastered, now it’s YOUR turn to master our state-of-the-art training system! During these 3 hours, we will break down everything your dog does 1 command at-a-time.

Essentially, our breakdown is demo’ing the command for your (for example; come and sit). We do it 5-6 times, then we have you do it numerous times. Then, we tell you how it’s possible for your dog to mess up the command, and we show and explain to you how to correct it. Then, we literally TRY to get your dog to mess up the command, so we can give you a real example of what it all looks like. Many people are very surprised to find that while doing a turnover, sometimes we CANNOT get your dog to mess up! Although, we really try, so you can see what the correction process looks like.

Once you have a firm understanding of that command and how it works, then we move on to the second command and repeat the above-stated process.

After we go through all of these commands, then we take you and your dog outside and off leash (realistic environment) and have you practice all of these commands with your dog.

Finally, at the end we have YOU to give US a demo with your dog (essentially like an “after” video on our Youtube channel). This is your final test for you to prove to us (and yourself) that you full understand how to maintain your dog’s amazing obedience and behavior.

Additionally, with our 2-week board and train program, we offer a free refresher class for LIFE. If at anytime your dog starts to not do well on a command, you bring them back in and we do a refresher with you.

At our dog training in Northern Virginia, we always get asked about Service Dog Training or Therapy Dog Training. Many do not realize the difference between these two types of training.

Canines might be prepared to perform numerous activities to help handlers or other individuals to handle a few troubles. There are no less than two sorts of prepared dogs which are deliberately trained to serve certain capacities relying upon the needs of the handlers; the main ones are therapy dogs and service dogs.

They are comparable in a few viewpoints, additionally distinctive in numerous things. A few associations (TDI, Delta, etc) give expert trainers to prepare both types of dogs for the individuals who need them. Since each one serves diverse capacities, the preparation strategies are coherently distinctive, as well.

Underneath you will discover the breakdown of both types of dogs along with the contrasts between them.

Therapy Dog:

Therapy dogs are prepared to visit open offices, for example, doctor’s facilities and schools or wherever dog comfort and aid is wanted. They are ready to support or empower individuals, for example, patients or kids with handicaps. With a therapy dog, the dogs are not trained to perform certain exercises or tasks “just” for the handler.

In the broadest sense, the dogs urge individuals to manage challenges, illnesses, anxiety, and other mental/mental conditions.

It is widely accepted that when patients pet dogs, their condition could be fundamentally improved. They have also been used to diminish uneasiness before specialists perform surgical operations.

Other than nursing homes and hospitals, therapy dogs regularly visit nursing homes and pediatric offices. They are typically obedient and significantly calm when they are in new environments.

Therapy dogs are always happy and open to having strangers pet them. Now and again, therapy dogs need to experience odd sights, smells, and noises. That is why proper training such as our Therapy Dog Development Course is necessary to prepare them for these things. On the other hand, you (the handler) also needs to know how to handle your dog in these situations.

Service Dogs

Service dogs are prepared just to help the handler to perform a few daily exercises and tasks. These dogs frequently go hand in hand with veterans, injured warriors, elderly, or individuals with fractional incapacities. Much of the time, each dog is specifically trained dependent upon the necessities of the handler.

Service dogs generally go anyplace the handler goes. Most people (and some businesses) do not realize that these dogs are permitted to go just about anywhere: restaurants, houses of worship, libraries, transportation (airport, bus, taxi), and that’s just the beginning. According to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Service Dogs are permitted to go “anywhere” that humans are allowed to go. This is one major difference between Service Dogs and Therapy Dogs.

A service dog is trained to perform activities to help just the handler. For example, a service dog who is owned by an individual enduring leg damage should be prepared to perform principal tasks, for example, standing next to the handler to provide stability (own can lean on the dog, etc). Another example of a service dog is a diabetic detection dog. It is specifically trained to let the handler know when he/she have hit a dangerous blood sugar level. Again, “trained to perform a specific task.”

Contrasts

The biggest distinction is that service dog is deliberately prepared to help JUST the handler. The dog can do different tasks to help the handler perform every day exercises, while a therapy dog is intended to be everyone’s pet.

An alternate significant distinction is that therapy dogs could be from any breed, while service dogs are generally Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds.

Therapy dogs are just permitted to visit offices where they are invited, while service dogs can go anyplace the handler goes.

I would also recommend reading my blog on, “Fake Service Dogs of America.”

We work with therapy dogs at our facility in Northern Virginia on a daily basis. Certain dogs have nice characteristics and certain behaviors that creates the perfect well-balanced friendly dog for individuals. In fact, because of this specific disposition, trainers can easily measure or choose the most appropriate coaching system/method. We can decide which profession the dog would be best suited for, such as medical care dogs, search and rescue (SAR) dogs, detection dogs, or therapy dogs.

Just like with people, there is almost a certification procedure for every profession.

How to Certify a Therapy Dog.

There are many different organizations across the country that do testing, however they remarkably have the similar common practice procedures including:

1. Before anyone will register the pet into a therapy dog program, the primary factor to try and do is to get the registration paperwork which is generally found on the specific organization’s web site. Some of the most well known organizations are: Angel on a Leash, Pet Partners, American Kennel Club (AKC), Delta Society, and Therapy Dog International.

2. If the dog meets the prerequisites, the organization can put the pet in special training or coaching programs; some organizations even provide on-line coaching for this. Alternative certification organizations don’t provide therapy dog training in the least, however they’re going to take your dog to the AKC Canine Good Citizen level, which is the first step to becoming a Therapy Dog in Northern Virginia.

3. The dog owner should take the dog for his/her normal medical examination. The dog should be fully healthy to continue the certification procedure. In most cases, these major corporations force the dog to show regular proof of DHLPP, rabies, and bortatella vaccinations.

4. Subsequent vital step in virtually any therapy dog registration procedure is dog analysis. The dog’s behaviors are evaluated by a representative of the organization. The analysis is fairly straightforward, the dog should have the basic manners, for examples sit, come, stay, down, and so on. A therapy dog should stay calm among strangers and alternative dogs; any indication of aggression isn’t allowed.

5. Fill out the registration paperwork; before submitting it to the organization, enclose the health and analysis certifications. It’s vital to incorporate an image of the dog for identification purpose. Please keep in mind that certification for Therapy dogs is not free; the owner should pay the registration fee once submitting the work (generally around $45.00/year).

6. Finally, you just have to wait for approval; once the certificate is issued, the pet is formally a therapy dog. An authorized therapy dog is a well-trained animal which will offer comfort to aged people, kids with learning disabilities, hospitalized individuals, and more. The animal are allowed to go to varied public facilities like libraries, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and essentially each establishment wherever the help from a therapy dog is wanted.

If you are wanting a dog to do therapy work, I would recommend our Therapy Dog Development Course which gives you and your dog all of the tools and skills needed to pass the TDI Certification!

Additionally, I would highly recommend reading my blog on “Picking the Perfect Dog” to ensure you get the “right” type of dog for this work.

We do most of our dog training in Northern Virginia; however, I just got back from spending 5-days working with the police dogs from Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Brevard County. It was an awesome experience being able to help train these amazing dogs and their handlers.

We were able to get a lot accomplished with these already really well-trained machines! We worked on things such as “targeting,” this is how you (the decoy aka guy in the bite suit) teach the dog to bite specific target areas. For example, many dogs prefer to bite an arm because that’s how they were trained before the police departments received them. So, we KNOW they will bite arms; however, we want to teach them that they can bite ANYWHERE. Believe it or not, these are things you have to TEACH the dog, they “generally” will not do it naturally. So, we use a wide variety of techniques in order to make them bite a leg, chest, back, etc. By forcing them to bite these areas and not allowing them to bite arms, they quickly realize, “Oh, I can bite this person anywhere,” and the game becomes more fun for them. Not only does it become more fun for them; however, it becomes more of a reliable/solid dog for us.

Additionally, we taught the dogs to “out” at a faster speed. Many “patrol dogs” do not like to let go once they bite somebody; however, for legality reasons it is very important to have a dog that lets go when the handler tells him to. With modern technology and everyone having a video camera, the last thing a police department wants is for their dog to bite suspect and the video show the K9 constantly screaming to let go and the dog keeps biting. That would not be good for business! 🙂 So, the importance of a solid/reliable “out” is almost just as important as the bite its’ self. So, we worked on a lot of drills to teach the dogs to “out” faster.

Overall, working these patrol dogs in Florida was a highly enjoyable experience where I was able to meet a lot of awesome dogs and people!

If you are in Northern Virginia and you are interested in personal protection for your dog, contact us! I would highly recommend reading my blog on “What It Takes To Be A Protection Dog.”